We spend most of the year in these newsletters talking up defensive excellence across baseball. Now, we’re nearing time to reward those who were most excellent in 2024.
Our next two Stat of the Weeks will focus on the top candidates for The Fielding Bible Awards, which will be announced later this month.
The Fielding Bible Awards is voted on by a panel of experts who can vote based on whatever criteria they choose, including observation and subjective judgement, as well as statistical analysis. Each position has one overall winner, different from the Gold Gloves which has one in each league.
This week, Part I of our preview looks at catchers and infielders from the perspective of the top Fielding Bible Awards and Gold Glove favorites and contenders.
(Defensive Runs Saved totals in parentheses)
Catcher
Fielding Bible Award Favorite: Patrick Bailey (20)
NL Gold Glove Favorite: Bailey
AL Gold Glove Favorites: Cal Raleigh & Freddy Fermin (16)
NL Top Contenders: Gabriel Moreno (10), William Contreras (6)
AL Top Contenders: Alejandro Kirk (14), Jake Rogers (13), Austin Wells (11), Bo Naylor (11)
After finishing second in Fielding Bible Awards voting last year, Bailey became this year’s favorite by ranking first in our pitch-framing stat, Strike Zone Runs Saved (15), and tied for third in Stolen Base Runs Saved (5).
Raleigh and Fermin are formidable competition and will be in a tight race for AL Gold Glove honors. Raleigh ranked second in Strike Zone Runs Saved. Fermin matched Bailey in Stolen Base Runs Saved and had the highest catcher block rate in MLB, blocking 96.3% of potential wild pitches.
First Baseman
Fielding Bible Award Favorite: Matt Olson (14)
NL Gold Glove Favorite: Olson
AL Gold Glove Favorites: Carlos Santana (8), Ryan Mountcastle (8)
NL Top Contenders: Michael Toglia (10), Christian Walker (7), Bryce Harper (5), Michael Busch (5)
AL Top Contenders: Nathaniel Lowe (1), Nolan Schanuel (1)
Olson won the Fielding Bible Award in 2018, 2019, and 2020 and is the favorite to snare another after leading his position in Defensive Runs Saved. As has been his norm, Olson excelled at getting to balls in the ‘3/4’ hole and turning them into outs and led all first basemen in the range component of Runs Saved.
As to who wins the AL Gold Glove at first base, Santana had his second straight strong season and has a decent chance at winning as a 38-year-old, though Mountcastle had a good year as well. There’s also intrigue in the NL as to whether Harper will be a finalist for a Gold Glove. He did a nice job in his first full season at first base.
Second Baseman
Fielding Bible Award Favorites: Brice Turang (21), Andrés Giménez (20)
NL Gold Glove Favorite: Turang
AL Favorite: Giménez
NL Top Contender: Ketel Marte (10)
AL Top Contender: Marcus Semien (10)
This should be an extremely close vote for the Fielding Bible Award. Turang had a fantastic defensive year for a Brewers team that finished with the 4th-most Runs Saved in MLB. Giménez, who won not only the Fielding Bible Award last year, but also the Platinum Glove for best AL defensive player, was right there with Turang for most of the season.
Both should be favored to win the Gold Glove Award in their respective leagues, though Marte and Semien are highly-credible defensive players in their own right.
Shortstop
Fielding Bible Award Favorite: Masyn Winn (14)
NL Gold Glove Favorite: Winn
AL Gold Glove Favorites: Zach Neto (11), Brayan Rocchio (10)
NL Top Contenders: Ezequiel Tovar (9), Dansby Swanson (7)
AL Top Contenders: Anthony Volpe (6), Gunnar Henderson (5), Bobby Witt Jr. (2)
Winn led shortstops in Runs Saved based on the combination of his range and his leading the position in Double Play Runs Saved (6). The 6 Double Play Runs Saved matched the most for a shortstop in the 22-year history of Defensive Runs Saved.
Shortstop is a rich position for Gold Glove contenders. By Defensive Runs Saved, Neto is the AL favorite, but the inclusion of other defensive stats in the Gold Gloves’ Sabermetric Defensive Index (SDI, which accounts for about 25% of the vote) may give others who didn’t fare as well in Runs Saved (like Swanson and Witt) a better chance.
Third Baseman
Fielding Bible Award Favorite: Matt Chapman (17)
NL Gold Glove Favorite: Chapman
AL Gold Glove Favorite: Ernie Clement (10)
NL Top Contender: Ryan McMahon (10), Ke’Bryan Hayes (10)
AL Top Contender: Alex Bregman (6), José Ramírez (6)
Chapman was the runaway leader in Runs Saved in a season in which he looked similar to how he played when he won the Fielding Bible Award in 2018 and 2019. He played the second-most innings of any third baseman in 2024 and showed he is fully recovered from his 2020 hip surgery.
Chapman’s replacement in Toronto, Ernie Clement, has a decent chance to win an AL Gold Glove, though a couple of veterans—Bregman and Ramírez—are aiming for their first Gold Glove and have a reasonable chance given their numbers.
Next week we’ll look at outfielders, pitchers, and the multi-position award.
